Leominster Mayor, Dean Mazzarella, is looking for members to join his Youth Council group.

Mayor Mazzarella is looking for students in Leominster to join a Youth Council group. In this group, he hopes these students will tackle issues or problems in our community. 

The Mayor wants the council to face community problems and use the council to fix them as best as they possibly can. He said that people have many different observations in our city, and by having this group we can bring attention to these opinions. 

Any student in 7th grade or above can be on the council. The mayor said as long as it’s someone younger who is passionate about making Leominster better, then they are encouraged to join. 

Home-schooled students and those in private schools are encouraged to join the council as well.  “You just have to live in Leominster,” said the Mayor. “You can school choice, you can home school, you can whatever it is. So it’s really a group of Leominster young adults.” 

The Mayor also believes that the world is a lot tougher on kids now than ever before. He said that this group will bring attention to the many issues kids face, especially since the group consists of kids who deal with these issues themselves. 

Mazzarella said that when the group is first started, he would be in charge and supervise. He said, “I think what I’ll try to do at first, is just try to facilitate it. So that everybody gets the word in, and we don’t scatter.”

He also said, “In a democratic way, prioritize our take on this.” Mazzarella was referring to the topics the council will discuss and how to develop solutions. 

Mazzarella also said that after the group has a better understanding of how the council works, and the members believe they will benefit from branching out by governing themselves, then a few students can run the group. 

“If a couple of people in the group could do a better job than me, I’ll be fine with that,”  said Mazzarella. 

It has been previously stated that he wants the group to be, “Democratic in the sense of making decisions.” and “When I say democratic I mean, you know, everyone gets a say.”

To join this group, you need to fill out a simple application that is available on the city’s website. He also said that he would like to hold meetings for the council once a month. 

To apply for a position, contact the city web site at http://www.leominster-ma.gov/